Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-09-15
ALL SORTS OF RELICS.
BRlC-A-BRAC MANUFACTURED TO
SUIT COLLECTORS DEMANDS,

The Ease with Which Buyers Are De-
pie Who Are Not Good Subjects for
the DeaIer-Old Clocks.
Two young women stood in front of what
appeared to be an elegant bronze statue in a
bric-a-brac store in Broadway The statue
represented a horse crouching ready to spring.
and half nude rider clinging to his back
The admiration Of the young women was
boundless, and they exhausted all the super
latives in giving expression to it. One of
them could not help patting the horses side,
| although the sign Hands off" was hanging
from his back. She wanted to touch some
thing that had come from the workshop of
one OF the old masters. Had she carefully
| examined the horses hind hoof, reasonable
doubt would have been raised as to whether
| the statue was the work of an ancient expert.
There was piece Clipped OFF the hoof, and
| although it was small, a fiber or grain could
be seen in the material The beautiful figure
| was not bronze. 1t was only papier mache
and was made in this city.
"While it is not becoming in me-" said the
proprietor of the store after the women had
gone out, "to talk about my customers, yet
laugh in peoples faces frequently when 1 see
how easily they are deceived by appear
ances. They make up their minds that
things are genuine because they look SO.
This is why bric-a-brac buyers are so easily
gulled. If they are pleased, that is enough,
and they will pay four or five prices for
something that suits their fancy All the
customers are not inclined that way, how
/ had an old rror,a N in hara tbic r,,o,,
ing to whom gave some facts and figures
about an old Venetian mirror She drank in
my long story with wondering eyes and then
offered So for the glass.
SOME PRACTICAL PEOPLE.
"There are some practical people who do
not place any value upon age and association
They are not fit subjects for the bric-a-brac
dealer The business is not what it used to
be, and unless you have something really fine
it is hard to get good price. Overproduc-
ton has fattened the trade. For every gen.
uine relic of the olden time, there are 100 imi-
tations Bric-a-brac from China and Japan
was the rage, and the importatioAs were
heavy until about year ago. Then the fac
tories in Birmingham and other places |
turned the goods out so rapidly that China |
and Japan were overStocked. There was a |
supposed to be hammered in Japan, but were |
really stamped by machinery in England. |
Americans like to be humbugged, and the |
largest part of the stuff is sent here.
"Here is a case of swords representing the |
style of every country-foils, daggers, and
Toledo blades. They are all supposed to be
ancient, but are made in Sheffield. The world
is full of Damascus blades made in that enter
Triciucr town Hara iS "a r.aaI DaD1oSp,1c bla6a
1t will cut without a sign of injury metal that
would turn the edge of the Sheffield imita-
tons. There is little demand for old armor
and weapons now.
BOGUS IVORY AND EBONY.
"The deception practiced in ivory goods
would make one believe that there was no
honesty. Beautiful ivory carvings, that are
said to have been picked up in the ruins of an
ancient city, are nodded from mixture OF
bone dust and gum, which takes on a high
polish. Acids put on the stain of age. A
mother of pearl is made from celIuloid that
would deceive an expert, but it becomes brit
lie and breaks easily Here is an elegant
piece of cabinet work. See how fine the lines
ire. Yet it is an imitation made of wood and
glue, pressed into molds which are cut so well
hat the fine lines of genuine carving are
|
work SO fine that even experts have pro-
bounced it real.
Genuine ebony is highly priced, and there
s a good demand for it. What is the use of
rying to find it when an excellent imitation
S made from beechwooda The wood is first
lried then boiled in nitrate of iron and
oaked in logwood. The weight and shade
ire almost perfect. Old clocks that have
noon faces and solve variety of astronomi-
al problems, and are supposed to have told
he time in some ancient manor, stand in
many Railways today and seem TO tell the
tory of other days. They are nearly all
made in this city and are hardly old enough
o tick. When there was rage for mummy
ases decorated in the fashion and colors of
be time when Egypt was a power among the
ations, more than enough to supply the de-
nand were made in this wicked town. In
act, everything that is worth having in brio
-brac 10 made here, and made well New
FORK Tribune.